Donna Kelce will be in Philadelphia on Christmas this year to support son Jason Kelce.
“I will be in Philadelphia for Christmas, spending time with my grandkids as we cheer on their dad,” Donna, 71, told People on Thursday, December 21, referring to Jason, 36, and the Philadelphia Eagles taking on the New York Giants on December 25. (Jason and wife Kylie Kelce share three children, Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 2, and Bennett, 10 months.)
The NFL mom recalled spending holidays “supporting the kids in various sporting events” during their childhood and “enjoying the Christmas break with other families.”
“But I remember the joy in their eyes as they woke up early on Christmas Day to come downstairs to screams, laughter and a flurry of ripped wrapping paper,” she told the outlet.
As for Donna’s youngest son, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, he is set to play against the Las Vegas Raiders in Kansas City on December 25. Donna will not be in attendance, but she still plans to travel to Kansas City to watch his last game of the year “with family, friends and Chiefs fans.”
While Donna will not be spending Christmas with both of her boys this year, she noted that she understands “it’s part of the job” to have holiday games. “I embrace the holiday games and enjoy the special days with our football family,” she added.
Instead of celebrating on December 25th, Donna shared that she and the family “will enjoy Christmas as a family on another day,” noting, “Santa somehow has always been able to find families who work on Christmas Day on an alternate date.”
Last month, Donna opened up exclusively to Us Weekly about how the holidays can be a “rough” time of year for many, especially “when your kids are in sports.”
“You’re not home a lot during the holidays,” she explained. “We would travel a lot. We would be in Florida, St. Augustine, visiting relatives, Disney [World], Marco Island and Fort Myers. [Jason and Travis’] grandparents [and] uncles were in Florida, so we constantly went to Florida for the holidays.”
While Donna and her family may not have a traditional Christmas experience now, she shared with Us that they would often spend the holidays playing board games and puzzles.
“During Christmas, years ago, we used to [play] Mario Bros. video games,” she shared. “We would say, ‘OK, it’s your turn. You see how far you can get,’ and then we’d do a tag team.”
When it comes to their holiday food traditions, Donna got candid about her cooking abilities — and the one dish she has perfected.
“I bake cinnamon rolls,” she shared. “They’re always my favorite, my go-to. I can only do it a couple times a year, so sugary. So, we’ve got rolls, we have muffins, cookies, things like that, and I usually do that in the season.”
Cinnamon buns are seemingly a Kelce family favorite, with Travis’ girlfriend, Taylor Swift, also making him a batch.
“[Travis] comes home. I was at his house, like, three hours before the game, we’re having pregame meal,” former quarterback Bernie Kosar recalled earlier this week. “And Taylor is so nice, she comes in by herself. She’s so cool, she made her homemade cinnamon rolls for Travis for a pregame meal.”
